


Chasing Sun

by SchrodingersShanu



Category: Great Pretender (Anime)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Break Up, Character Development, Getting Back Together, I did that thing where I took one part of a fun anime and ran with it and made it not fun, M/M, Makoto gets a cat and Laurent gets long hair so everyone wins, Makoto's POV, Pining, Post Case 4 season 2, Spoilers, Time Skips
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-12-11
Updated: 2020-12-10
Packaged: 2021-03-11 03:20:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,923
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28008330
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SchrodingersShanu/pseuds/SchrodingersShanu
Summary: After the boat scene at the end of season 2, Makoto leaves Laurent and their unspoken intimate relationship. He travels, settles down and grows. Laurent finds Dorothy, and Makoto thinks at least one of them found a happy ending until one day Laurent stands at his door and asks if he could live with him for a while and everything changes.
Relationships: Dorothy/Laurent Thierry, Edamura Makoto/Laurent Thierry
Comments: 16
Kudos: 153





	Chasing Sun

When Laurent slips into his bed, Makoto doesn't say anything. He just gives a slow blink and scoots back to give Laurent some space.

He is still mad at Laurent. How can he not be when Laurent always ignores his wishes and drags him into his — well, technically, his dad's — cons and never trusts him with the whole picture?

The rage and resentment burning inside him is sickening. It's like viscous glue inside his throat. It burns behind his eyes, makes them prickle. Makoto wants nothing to do with any of it.

Honestly, he wants nothing to do with Laurent.

He scoots further. Laurent lies down in front of him and palms his cheek. It’s as easy as that for him.

"Are you okay?" Laurent asks.

No, he isn't. The person who he let into his bed and heart so many times ended up toying with him as always. He let him believe that his friends had actually died. He left him alone; abandoned him, let him latch onto a monster and turn into a monster himself.

For what? For someone he loved years ago?

Laurent runs a finger down his jaw. "Makoto?"

For someone he still loves?

Makoto nods against Laurent's hand. Lets him know, that yes, Makoto can hear him. He can always hear him. And that's the problem.

Honestly, what is Makoto doing? Why does he keep turning his life upside down for someone who loves a ghost more than him?

Makoto closes his eyes and hopes that the numbness he feels right now will stay. Stay until Laurent is here. He doesn't want to crack in front of him. No more. He is so tired of everything.

Laurent presses closer to him. Gathers Makoto in his arms and tucks his chin over his head, his legs trapping Makoto's feet between them. Along with the rocking of the boat, Makoto feels like he is being cradled to sleep. The feeling is so comforting. Makoto wants so much of it. Forever and ever. And, again, that's the problem.

"I thought you were tired? Why aren't you sleeping?"

Makoto stays silent and keeps his eyes closed. He is going to keep every part of him to himself from now on.

Laurent kisses his forehead. Makoto curls his toes and swallows.

"I know you are planning to run away without telling me. But, wherever you are, I can always find you," Laurent lilts.

Makoto knows that. That's why he runs away. To be found again. To be seduced with touches and words into Laurent's life again. The thrill of a con is the cherry on the top but for a while, it's been all about Laurent.

Laurent who would rather sacrifice the living — _him_ — to avenge the dead — _her_.

What is Makoto doing? What is he doing with his life? How can he hate himself enough to let Laurent manipulate his life and make him stray again and again?

Makoto opens his mouth, Laurent stops stroking his back, looks at him with heavy lids.

"Please," Makoto whispers.

Laurent nods and kisses his lips.

Makoto shakes his head. "That's not what I meant."

Laurent draws back and pinches his cheek. "Then what did you mean, little one?"

He says this in a jovial tone but Makoto can see right through it. So he forgets what he meant, and surging forward, he kisses Laurent.

Laurent lifts himself up and starts unbuttoning his shirt. Below him, he continues kissing Makoto desperately as if he can taste the final goodbye on his lips.

Makoto tells himself that he doesn't like Laurent's desperation and will not play this moment forever and ever in his new life. The one without Laurent.

***

Fitting the pining and hopes of a lifetime into five words and two full stops, Makoto leaves with a simple, "Don't contact me. Good luck." text.

Then he takes a deep breath and throws his phone away. He buys a burner and chooses a random country by putting a finger on the map blindly. He doesn't even know the name of their first language but he manages just fine with his accented English, Google translate, and a lot of gestures.

He does it again. And again. Hops from one country to another with burner phones and blind fate. Tastes their cuisine, their people, sees their monuments, buys postcards and clicks photos.

Two years pass. Laurent doesn't contact him and Makoto tries not to feel jilted for the one time Laurent is respecting his wishes.

He goes back to home. To Japan.

***

His dad is the one who tells him about Dorothy. She is alive. Had recently regained her lost memories and came by seeking Laurent the first thing. They had a beautiful, teary union. Spent a week holed up in their room. They are exchanging rings next Monday in an intimate ceremony. He has never seen Laurent this happy, his dad adds with a rare chuckle. He puts his cup down and extends an invite. It's plain. White and silver. Makoto takes it easily and lies that he will come.

His dad doesn't ask him how he has been, how he is settling in his new home — a small apartment studio — and a new job — a server at a cat café. He is going to open his own one day when he forgets that originally, it was Laurent's idea. Some day he'll get the idea on his own and that's when he'll do it. For now, he is content. He thinks of Soybean - the small Russian Blue that has taken a liking to him and follows him around in the café and tugs at Makoto to get petted. He thinks of her warmth and realizes that he is more than content. But his dad doesn't bother with any of these mundane questions — why would he? Makoto isn't family. Laurent and Dorothy are. He doesn't mean it in a resentful way. He means it in a factual way.

At the door, his dad tells him to take care. Makoto repeats it to him. Instead of forgiveness, he has decided on giving his dad a clean slate. Once Makoto realized that Oz wasn't family but an acquaintance, maybe even a friend in the close future and Makoto doesn't owe him anything and he doesn't own Makoto anything, it became so much easier. His dad gives him a smile. He looks healthy.

"Thank you for the tea. You look happy. The apartment is cosy. Get a cat," he says the four statements without any pause, the rhythm suggesting that the phrases follow a natural progression and lead up to one another. Makoto doesn't understand how but he doesn't prod.

They part with a warm friendly hug.

***

Three days later, a knock sounds on his door. Makoto puts Soybean gently aside from his lap. She grumbles at him. Makoto pouts at her and gives her a scratch behind her ears.

He gets up with an old-man grunt and tugs a messy fringe behind his ear. He keeps forgetting to get a haircut.

When he opens the door to Laurent, an avalanche of emotions tumbles through him. He doesn't pause to think and feel, instead, he steps aside and lets Laurent in.

His hair is longer but unlike Makoto's unkempt nest, it's styled and cared for. Makoto remembers losing his fingers in them for hours; remembers patting them for minutes; remembers tugging at them harshly for seconds.

Laurent looks happy.

He hugs Makoto like a friend and Makoto hugs him back like a long lost lover. Envelops himself in that beautiful warmth, carves his shape and their fit in mind.

Work of almost three years done away in a second.

They sit down, the low coffee table between them. Makoto brews some tea, Laurent plays with Soybean. Soybean purrs — the traitor.

"I came to invite you," Laurent says. His head is turned down, looking at Soybean with a small smile. A pallid ray of sunlight comes from the lone window and hits Laurent's hair. It glows around him like a halo. When he looks up, his eyes brim with genuine happiness. He looks so deceptively angelic while breaking Makoto's heart.

As his father had said, Laurent looks happy like Makoto had never seen him before.

His heart squeezes. Selfishly, Makoto thinks why Laurent was never so happy with him.

He looks away.

"How are you?" Laurent asks him, face smoothened with that perpetual amusement of his.

Makoto rubs his arm. "Fine. How are you?"

"Great."

"Great."

This is so awkward. Their conversations have always been everything but awkward. If nothing else, that's their thing. Banter. Teasing. Flirting. Coy refusal. But, not awkward. Never awkward.

Laurent takes something out of his pocket. It's the same sober white and silver invite. He puts it on the table. "I came to invite you."

Makoto accepts it easily. "Thanks. Dad already gave me one."

Laurent lifts his lips in a knowing expression. "I thought if _I_ invited you, you might actually think about coming."

Makoto laughs and pours them some tea. "It's the opposite of it if anything."

They grin at each other and sip their tea in silence. The words and feelings left untouched like the cookies that Makoto had put on the table in a beautiful porcelain bowl. It's from his mother's collection. It makes him feel like an adult.

***

They are in the kitchen because Laurent told him that he is hungry for instant ramen and then barged in there to make some.

Makoto is following Laurent's order and chopping veggies because Laurent doesn't understand proprietary and etiquette. He is never satisfied, insatiable in his greed and need to take. So, no, instant ramen isn't enough. There has to be veggies in it. Simply putting the ramen in water and then adding flavouring isn't enough. The noodles have to be boiled separately, and then veggies need to be fried and flavouring has to be added in them and then noodles need to be mixed with them—

_"...and you have to make sure that you don't overboil so that the noodles stay separated and don't become a little clump. Okay, dearest?" Laurent says, plastered to Makoto's back, his face pressed beside Makoto's head._

_Makoto elbows him, mixing the noodle clump with the veggies in the pan. "Why don't you make them yourself then?"_

_Laurent wraps his arms around his waist. "To teach you the ways of life. Aren’t I nice?" He says and then kisses the side of Makoto's head in affection._

"Tsk. It's clumpy," Laurent says peeking over him. He is sitting on the kitchen counter, swinging his legs while biting into an apple.

"Yeah," Makoto admits, shoulders slumping in defeat. "I am yet to learn the ways of life, I guess."

Behind him, Laurent stops swinging his legs. "You know them better than me." He says, standing close behind Makoto.

Makoto continues mixing, ignoring the spring coiling tighter inside him. "Yeah?"

Laurent cuffs his head and drags his face towards him, embracing him intimately. He drops a chaste kiss in his hair. "You are doing great. For a brat."

Makoto closes his eyes and breathes in his words and his touches for the last time.

They eat and laugh and banter and tease and don't talk about what they had and what they could.

***

On Monday, when Laurent is exchanging rings, Makoto takes an additional shift so that he has an excuse to switch off his phone and put it away. He doesn't know if Laurent has his number and he truly doesn't want to find out. Laurent has moved on, Makoto will too. That's life. You get used to everything.

***

Abby calls him, they don't talk about it. Cynthia calls him, they don't talk about it. Instead, they plan a get together a week later. Makoto feels a little warm with the thought that their friendship extends over their cons, and it can exist even outside of Laurent. Laurent's plans and moods can't change their bond — not now not ever.

Makoto breathes a little easier.

***

A year passes. Laurent calls him, invites him to a big con in the US. The crackling of the phone hides Laurent's emotions — smug or desperate, Makoto can't decipher. He hopes Laurent can't read the joy in his voice either.

Makoto refuses, of course. He has a life here. A steady job in the cat café. He has even grown fond of the despicable cat ears that he is made to wear. He has made some friends, moved into a new apartment, the same size but better quality and water supply. He even has some savings outside of the con money now. He has Soybean. He just bought her a new scratching post. She loves it.

Laurent dilly-dallies. Makoto doesn't mind. He enjoys his voice. It's the small things in life.

Laurent asks him again, almost provoking. Makoto refuses. Unlike years ago and before, this time he means it. It was never about the thrill of the con for him. It was about doing the only thing that he thought he was good at. But, now he knows better.

He knows that he is also good at wearing cat ears and serving people with a smile. He knows that he is good with people and being there for his friends. He knows that he doesn't care much for the money. He knows that he is a great cat dad.

To be honest, conning had become something that he did to be close to Laurent. It was Laurent who needed conning, not him. If he had Laurent with him right here as Soybean's other cat dad, life would have been perfect — or maybe not, because perfect doesn’t really exist. Still, it would have been nice to have him here in his imperfect life.

But, he doesn't and it's okay. He is still content.

"You mean it," Laurent says. Even with the loud noise behind him, his surprise is crystal and crisp.

"I do."

For once, he really, really, really does.

***

The con goes swimmingly, the others tell him over the phone. Makoto will ask them the details later when they meet. They invite him to a post-con celebration. He declines it because it feels sacred to him — something that only the participants should join. He’ll feel out of place there. And then there's the matter of witnessing Dorothy and Laurent together.

It's a human weakness to despise Laurent's spilling happiness caused by someone else. It’s still a fresh wound, after all. It's love and pain _and love_ to realise that this was the person Laurent was meant to be with all along. Makoto was a diversion, an obstacle, maybe even a lesson planned by fate for Laurent, and in the end, it was always supposed to be Dorothy.

It's one thing to know that your soul is ugly enough to wish for the unhappiness of someone you love, it's another to confront it while drinking some champagne and laughing.

So, again, he declines and means it when Laurent asks him over for the party. Laurent doesn't contact him for another six months.

***

Makoto is getting ready for his shift, Soybean is staring at him with her wide eager eyes. He hoists his backpack and scoops her up to put her in a pet carrier. Something in Makoto feels lonely on this cloudy morning, so he has decided to project that on Soybean and take her to the café with him where she can meet her friends.

The doorbell rings. Makoto turns to the door in surprise.

With a grimace, he turns to the door. It’s probably her neighbour. She is an elderly lady who has taken a liking to him. She gives him meals sometimes. She means well but she is a chatterbox and Makoto is already running late.

He opens the door and finds Laurent on the other side, a big backpack on his back, hair askew, dark circles beneath his eyes. He looks handsome and tired.

He smiles at Makoto — and look, here’s the sun that is missing from the grey sky today. He bumps into Makoto to enter but Makoto resists, stands his ground. “I am running late, Laurent,” he says as if Laurent and he meet every day.

Laurent gives him a lazy smile. “I need a place to stay for a while. Can I stay with you?”

Makoto stares back, unsure if he should bring up the fact that Laurent is quite rich and a con man, so he can afford a better place “to stay for a while”.

Makoto looks down at his watch. “Fine. You need to pay the rent though.”

Laurent grins, bright. He looks so young and infinitely old at the same time. “Can I pay in my learned life wisdom?”

Makoto crosses his arms. “No. In money.”

Laurent pouts. “How about kisses? Can I pay you in kisses?”

Instead of unpacking that statement or acknowledging the spark of joy that goes through him, Makoto throws the house key at Laurent. “No, you can’t.” He pulls Laurent inside, and steps out. “Take care of Soybean. Remember to feed her. Don’t open any windows. Use the stove carefully. If you go out, remember to lock the door after you. Be here before 5, that’s when I come back. If I had to wait outside because I am trusting you with the only key, I am going to ruin your life.”

Laurent puts the key in front of his face, examining it with a wonder that Makoto can’t decipher. “Gotcha, dearest.”

**Author's Note:**

> I watched the second season and clearly, I HAD THINGS TO SAY so the same day I got under my blanket and typed it all on my phone in this fic. Hmph!


End file.
